BROAD BAY.

l Februar-. 7.— The annual picnic of the school children and their friends was held on {Saturday at the Oban township, and was very successful, the only drawback, beiiig the north-wester which was blowing, s The' committee, have expended fully £12 in giving prize- 1 and iv providing the annual treat, aud to them ami to;the teacher' (Mr Huie) and Me-uirg J. Anderson and M'Leod and, tho Misses Arideifon the thanks of parents and other's are due. , Church Matters. — About; a fortnight ago, the Rev. Mr Ryley, Port Chalmers, delivered ari interesting lecture here on •' Volcanoes," in aid of the Wesleyan Church organ fund. : Collectors^ q£ 'the" fund have, now, in hand .about £21, aud steps, will be taken almost immediately ■ to procure a suitable instrument.* ' , Bathing; Seasox.— We have probably had more visitors this summer than ever before:. During the 'school holidays, just closing we have had au a<lditional population of about 150. Of course, a large proportion were children, but every hou^e was fully occupied, and q-iitH it number of tents - were erected as well. One house is in course of erection, aud another v to be put up before next summer, theresilents thus evincing a desire to keep pace with the times. , Accident. — A child about two years old, the youngest son of Mr D. Arnotfc, .of Broad Bay, was scalded so badly on Thursday through' falling into a pan of hot water that it ! died' the following day, • • I] Tub Weatheh.- 1 - The. ' north-west gale of. Saturday. was, the worst experienced here, for' ! some years. . A great deal of damage has .been done in the gardens— ia fact, there is scarcely any fruit left on the -trees., A large byre, belonging to Mr J,"R." Rutherford,, was quite stripped of its roof." A good deal of damage has alt-o been done to the beach road, between Raynbird and the jetty. . ' Competition.— The new mail contractor has put on a coach, while Air ' Richmond, in addition to his old coach, has commenced running a new'one; so that we have now three daily { coaches at shilling fares from Dunedin to Portobello— probably the cheapest ride iv the province.